Kensington SlimBlade Media Notebook Set Review

Kensington's SlimBlade Media Notebook Set is a stylish and sturdy keyboard-and-mouse combo that features an attractive graphite finish and a slim, sleek body. It has the feel of a notebook keyboard but the quick keys of a desktop set. The $129.99 price is steep for a keyboard, but its design, wireless connectivity, and swappable modules should win over plenty of consumers.

Although the bundle is called a Notebook Set (presumably for laptop users who have a docking station and need an external keyboard and mouse), it's just as well-suited to desktop-PC duty. In fact, some of the unit's hotkeys, particularly the CD/DVD eject button, work only with a desktop.

The keyboard/mouse combo was easy to set up. Just pop in the AA batteries (two per component), plug the tiny wireless receiver into a USB port on your computer, and you're ready to go. (You'll find the receiver tucked underneath the mouse.) You can swap the keypad, mouse, and wireless-remote modules from the left or the right side of the keyboard, a handy feature for left- or right-handed users. In our tests, we found the keyboard, mouse, and number-pad modules all to be responsive, and the keys quiet during typing. We would have liked to see dedicated volume controls, though, and the thin, slim mouse was on the heavy side.

The set's wireless range was impressive—handy when connected to a Media Center PC in the living room (Kensington offers an optional $19.99 SlimBlade Media Remote module), or when viewing business presentations. Kensington estimates the battery life for this unit to last between three to six months, and covers the unit with a five-year warranty.